The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced Google as the Creative Marketer of the Year 2018. The award honors brands that distinguish themselves through consistently outstanding creative storytelling. This year, Google is recognized for embracing creativity across their brand marketing, the application of new technology to creating effective campaigns, and inclusive storytelling. The Cannes Lions honor will be collected by Google’s chief marketing officer, Lorraine Twohill, during the closing award eeremony on Friday, June 22.
To celebrate the award and ensure the future of the marketing industry is one which is driven by a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, the company will launch the Google Creative Campus at the 2018 Cannes Lions.
Google Creative Campus will focus on driving greater gender, ethnicity and socio-demographic diversity in the creative industries. Operating in partnership with the Roger Hatchuel Academy, the combined program will educate 45 students in Cannes, at least 50% of which will come from groups that are historically underrepresented in advertising and marketing. Students will be selected by Cannes Lions representatives, from advertising, communications, and related marketing disciplines and additionally, 10 of the chosen students will receive bursaries from Google.
“At Google we build for everyone, and our marketing campaigns must speak to people all around the world with different backgrounds, languages, and points of view. We want to support more talented newcomers who bring different perspectives into the industry. This isn’t about ‘multicultural marketing’; it’s marketing in a multicultural world. Without this diversity, there is no creativity,” said Twohill.
Following a week of training at Cannes Lions in June, the group will participate in a second week-long immersion trip at Google’s Mountain View, Calif. headquarters in the second half of the year.
“Alongside its obvious achievements as a technology company, Google as a brand has crafted a reputation for marketing campaigns that are bold, courageous and creative. Over the history of the Festival, Google has taken home an incredible 127 Lions. Ground-breaking campaigns like NYT VR, Google Deepmind Alphago, Google Cardboard, Google Voice Search and Hilltop Reimagined for Coca-Cola–all of which won Grands Prixs–are clear examples of Google’s drive to constantly challenge and strive for creative excellence. We’re proud to be able to honor them with this prestigious award and also look forward to launching the Google Creative Campus at this year’s Festival–another testament to their commitment to furthering creativity,” said Jose Papa, managing director, Cannes Lions.
Previous winners of the Creative Marketer of the Year Award include Burger King, Samsung and Coca-Cola.
